Affenpinscher, Banana Joe

A dog in Tennessee whose owner dumped it at a shelter because he thought it was gay was saved from euthanasia at the last minute by a kindhearted animal lover.

The dog was left with a rabies control shelter in Jackson, Tenn., this week “not because he’s mean or tears things up… But because his owner says he’s gay!” the group Jackson TN Euthanasia, which tries to find homes for dogs in kill-shelters, posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

“He hunched another male dog so his owner threw him away because he refuses to have a ‘gay’ dog!” the group wrote in a post that went viral, leading to thousands of comments online and hundreds of people calling the shelter.

One of those callers was Stephanie Fryns, a veterinary tech from Jackson, who rescued the bulldog-mix. She named him Elton.